Joint Cambodia-Laos mission: strengthening cooperation for integrated water resource management

A joint mission to Cambodia was conducted in February 2025 to promote the exchange of expertise between stakeholders involved in participatory IWRM initiatives in the Stung Sen watershed in Cambodia and the Nam Sa watershed in Laos.

For more than a decade, the French water agencies Loire-Bretagne and Rhin-Meuse, in partnership with OiEau, have been actively supporting these IWRM initiatives in Laos and Cambodia. Recognising the importance of regional collaboration to address common water-related challenges, regional exchanges are organised to promote institutional and technical dialogue, the sharing of knowledge and the development of a unified approach to the sustainable management of water resources in the Mekong basin.

Strengthening cooperation and field visits

The Laotian delegation, composed of the Deputy Director General of the Department of Water Resources of the Ministry of the Environment and accompanied by experts, was received in Phnom Penh by Cambodian representatives, including the Secretary of the National Committee for Basin Management and the Vice-President of the Tonle Sap Authority.

The mission also travelled to Kampong Thom, one of the provinces involved in the management of the Stung Sen basin, to meet the president of the basin committee and vice-governor of the province. The discussions involved the decentralised cooperation partners involved in the installation of drinking water stations and the creation of an association to pool their management. A visit was organised to the Sala Visai drinking water plant.

Finally, the delegation visited the province of Preah Vihear to talk to communities of irrigating agricultural workers. This meeting facilitated the sharing of experiences on models of water management for irrigation and enabled comparisons to be made with current practices in Laos. A visit to a reservoir, which will be commissioned in 2023 after being built between 2019 and 2022, identified operational challenges and enabled recommendations to be made on the management of structures.

The importance of concerted governance for the sustainable management of the Stung Sen

This mission has strengthened cooperation between Cambodia and Laos in the field of integrated water resources management, allowing for an exchange on common issues and the identification of levers for improvement for the sustainable and concerted management of river basins.

It is part of a collaborative governance approach, a key approach for the implementation of IWRM, which aims to bring the various stakeholders (government representatives, users, local elected representatives) together around the table to discuss issues related to the resource.

In Cambodia, the project to support the implementation of IWRM on the Stung Sen, which began in 2012, illustrates this approach. In collaboration with the local authorities, basin committees have been set up to promote dialogue between the provinces and local communities and thus map out the stakeholders and define an action plan adapted to local needs, while taking into account the specificities of Cambodian legislation.